


break the chain

by evotter



Series: the phase 3 rewrite nobody asked for [3]
Category: Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), Spider-Man - All Media Types, Thor (Movies)
Genre: AU, Endgame AU, Gen, Infinity War AU, Not Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Not Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Compliant, just me trying to fix what the russos messed up, peter is in some deep shit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-23
Updated: 2020-01-30
Packaged: 2020-11-02 12:20:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 16,905
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20743934
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/evotter/pseuds/evotter
Summary: “Thanos is the worst threat you could possibly imagine.” Gamora says. Her voice sets a chill in Peter’s bones. “We need to get ahead of him as quickly as we possibly can or we will lose if he even gets the slightest bit in front of us. Please, Peter Parker. We need all the help we can get. You do this for us, and we will do something for you. Anything you need.”Anythingis pretty nice. Especially considering he might need them to guard him so Tony doesn’t totally murder him. And they seem like nice enough people. And if Strange trusts them… “Okay,” says Peter, rather reluctantly. “I’ll go with you guys to space."(or: peter contacts star-lord and meets the guardians of the galaxy. not infinity war/endgame compliant.)





	1. come with me and escape

**Author's Note:**

> if you just stumbled upon this fic, STOP! have you read the other fics in this series? no? i would!! you'll be a wee bit confused if you don't start from the beginning! you can still read, but some background info would probably help you out!
> 
> for those of you who HAVE read the other fics, here's the next installment! please enjoy!!

Peter’s still in _ high school, _ okay? That means he’s got classes and quizzes and tests and _ essays _ that he needs to be putting his blood, sweat, and tears into. That means he also _ cannot _keep skipping classes for super people he hasn’t met before.

Then again, Peter _ is _ the one with a pager given to him by a magical wizard that has the capacity to contact guy named Star-Lord who lives in space. And, uh, _ duh, _he’s going to use it to contact him.

He follows his classmates out of Spanish and hangs a right, swinging by his locker to drop off his textbook. He’s got lunch after this, which means a solid hour of fiddling with the pager and trying to see if the transmission actually goes through. 

“So that’s the thing that Dr. Strange gave you?”

Peter jumps. Like, actually jumps a couple feet in the air, knocking the door of his locker with his forearm. _ “Jeez, _MJ,” he says, as the sting ebbs away. “Stop creeping up on me like that.”

Michelle blinks at him, unwrapping a granola bar from her bag. “I’ve been standing behind you since we left Spanish,” she says. “You were just too zoned out to notice. Is that the pager?”

“Yes, it’s the pager.” Peter responds, shoving it back into his pocket. 

“Have you used it yet?”

“No.”

“Well, why not?”

Peter blinks at her. “It sounds like you want me to go into space with some guy who goes by Star-Lord.”

Michelle shrugs. She takes a bite of her granola bar. “It’d be kinda cool.”

“Yeah, but then Mr. Stark is gonna kill me.”

“So tell him about the pager.”

“I can’t do that.”

“Why not?” she presses. Peter shuts his locker a little too loudly. “You’ve had, like, a million opportunites to tell him about it. You could literally text him right now.”

Peter shoulders his backpack. “Yeah, I know I could, Em. But after everything Dr. Strange told me about, I...I don’t know. I wanna do a little digging first.”

“It sounds like you’re going behind his back.”

“I’m not going behind his back!” he protests. Michelle fixes him with a look. “Okay, maybe a little. But what Dr. Strange said to me…”

She narrows her eyes slightly, looking more worried than suspicious. “What _ did _he say to you?”

_ You can handle a lot more than you think you can. _

_ I need you on my side. _

_ If we don’t work together, and this thing comes right at us, we’re doomed. _

_ You’ve got a lot of potential, Peter Parker. You think Tony Stark’s the only one who recognized that about you? _

“Just a bunch of stuff about the Avengers.” Peter says. He thinks this is one of the only times he’s lying through his teeth to his girlfriend. “But he—he thinks this Star-Lord can help us. I think Tony would want to know if we could get some help in space. But he’s not exactly great at extending warm welcomes to strangers, so...I figured I’d take a look first. That way, maybe...he can give me some more responsibility, you know?”

Michelle’s eyebrows knit together. “You know you’re the one who turned down the offer to be an Avenger.”

“I know.”

“And he’s not gonna offer again until you graduate.”

“I _ know, _ MJ.”

“I’m just saying,” she says, putting her hands up. “Use the pager or don’t. Either way, Stark’s gonna be mad that you didn’t tell him about it.”

Peter sighs. “Gee,” he says flatly. “Thanks for the support.”

“Anytime,” she replies, shrugging one shoulder. “You coming to lunch?”

Peter shoves his hand into his pocket and wraps his hand around the pager. He glances at the cafeteria, where Ned is already sitting at their usual table. “No,” he says, biting his lip. “Nah, I’ll catch up with you later.”

“Okay.” Michelle responds. She looks at him for a moment, expression akin to concern, and then she turns her back and walks into the cafeteria. 

=

“So where _ exactly _are we heading?” Gamora inquires, standing opposite from Peter Quill as he traces a map with his fingers. “What’s so important down on Earth?”

“What, like you’re not excited to see where your boyfriend’s from?” Peter quips back. 

She puts her hands on her hips. “Quill.”

“All right, all right.” he looks up at her. Out of his pocket he takes the tiny pager, still flashing. “This is a little doohickey I got from a wizard on Earth. He told me to keep it on me, in case he ever needed my help.”

“And now he does?”

“Bingo.”

“With what, exactly?”

“I have no idea.” he replies. Gamora takes the pager from him and turns it over in her hands. “This thing doesn’t work like our normal transitions. It just beeps and I go to the location he told me to meet him at. No messages, no nothin’.”

“It doesn’t sound like a transmission at all.”

“These were invented before either of us were born. They suck, but they do the job.”

Gamora hands it back. “So we’re going to Earth to speak to a wizard?”

“Yeah.” Peter says, setting it down next to the map. He places his hands flat on the table. “I don’t know anything about this magic shit, but he seems legit.”

“It’s not the worst thing I’ve experienced.” she says, half to herself.

Peter makes a face. “Remind me to never ask you about your weird space experiences.” 

“We are arriving!” Mantis calls from the front of the ship.

Gamora watches as Peter folds the map as neat as he can and puts it back where he found it. He pockets the pager again. “Better buckle up.”

She studies Peter for a moment. “Are you nervous?”

“What?” he scoffs. “No. Why would I be nervous?”

“You haven’t returned to Earth since your mother died.” Gamora replies, impossibly soft. “And with everything that happened with your father—”

“I’m not nervous, Gamora.” Peter repeats, a hard edge to his voice. “It’s just Earth. It’s not even Missouri. Nothin’ special. Just a mission.”

The rigid set of his shoulders tells her otherwise. But: “Just a mission.” she echoes. She knows when to push and when to just let it go. “Let’s go.”

“All right, Guardians,” says Peter, taking his seat next to Rocket. “Earth is different than any other planet we’ve been on. I don’t even know what it looks like now. So keep your guard up.”

“If you think we’re afraid of humans, Quill, you’re dumber than I thought.” Rocket grumbles.

“I am Groot.”

“Yeah. Exactly. Thank you, Groot.” 

Peter rolls his eyes. “I mean it, assholes. No funny business. We don’t wanna draw attention to ourselves, got it?”

“Yeah, yeah.” Rocket says, punching at buttons before taking hold of the controls. “Got it. That’s all?”

Peter’s ninety percent sure that his eyes are going to get stuck if he rolls them again. “That’s all.”

“Good. Now let me do what I do best and land this thing.”

=

Skipping lunch might not have been the best idea. As in, of course the one day Peter decides to contact space rangers is the day he chooses not to bring May’s leftovers. There’s a hot dog stand over on the corner across the road from where he’s waiting, but he figures it’d be his luck if he goes to get one just as his friends arrive on the planet. Maybe they’ll have some kind of weird alien food they’ll let him try. Who knows.

Peter’s phone starts buzzing in his pocket. He fishes it out with his free hand and takes one look at the caller ID before his stomach literally drops.

Shit.

He presses his phone to his ear and clears his throat. “Uh—hey, Mr. Stark. What’s up?” 

_“Hey, kid.”_ the tinny voice of his mentor says. _“Got a minute?”_

“Sure, sure. How can I, uh, help you?”

_“I’ve been thinking about the whole wizard day, and I gotta be honest, I think he’s not being honest with us.”_

Double shit. Peter looks up at the sky, as if a spaceship would all of a sudden appear and save him from this conversation. “No?”

_“Nah.”_ Tony sighs. _“What, he knew we were coming, let me fall down a hole, sat with you and basically said nothing?” _

Peter swallows. Honestly, he thinks he’s never been this nervous for any of his exams. Like, ever. “Yeah, man, I don’t—I don’t know. He’s a wizard. They’re usually sketchy, aren’t they?”

_“Did you notice that necklace he was wearing? It looked like an eye. Like he was protecting something?”_

“Oh, yeah, I noticed it.”

_“Did he mention it to you at all? Did you ask?”_

“No,” says Peter, and hates how obvious it feels that he’s lying. “I didn’t.”

Tony is silent for a moment. _“Maybe I should pay him another visit.”_

“He’ll probably just drop you through another portal.”

_“He knows something,”_ Tony insists._ “Something we should know too.”_

_ We need you in this fight, _echoes Strange’s voice in Peter’s mind. His tongue feels too big for his mouth. “I dunno, Mr. Stark. Maybe you’re just overthinking it.”

_“No, I’m just trying to protect the very world we live in.”_ Tony returns. _“That’s our job, kid. You really don’t think anything’s up? No funny business?”_

Before Peter can utter another lie, the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. He looks back up at the sky to see it shimmering like something invisible settling in front of him. The wind picks up, nearly knocking him off his feet, and then the grass presses flat to the ground, like something is resting on top of it. “I gotta go,” he says, already lowering his phone from his ear.

_“Pete? What—”_ starts Tony, but Peter ends the call before he can hear anything else. He’ll definitely die later today.

Then again, if this ends up going well, he won’t have to keep lying.

The ship appears in front of Peter in the time he takes to blink. The hatch opens, and out comes two people: a green woman with black and pink hair, and a man who looks _ very much human _wearing a red leather jacket and some kind of faceplate with a blaster in his hand.

The man raises his hand to his ear and the faceplate disappears. In surprise, Peter realizes this man must actually be human; his grip tightens around the pager as both people look him up and down for an agonizingly long second.

Then, the man says, “You’re not the wizard.”

“No.” Peter says, lifting the pager. “He gave this to me. I’m—I’m Peter.”

The man frowns. “No, I’m Peter.”

Peter blinks. “Oh,” he says. “Wow. Okay. Um, well, two people can have the same first name, you know. I don’t know how things are in space, but we aren’t very original when it comes to names unless you’re, like, a celebrity—”

“You got a last name?” the green lady interrupts.

He falls silent and clears his throat. “P-Parker, ma’am,” he says. “Peter Parker.”

She gestures to herself. “Gamora. This is Peter Quill.”

Quill puts his blaster back in his holster. “Parker,” he says. “Ever been inside a spaceship before?”

“Is that, like, a legit _ question?” _Peter wonders aloud. Then he remembers. “Oh. Um, yeah, actually. I have. Sorry. Yours is probably way cooler, though.” 

It’s way smaller; unlike the ship that held Thor’s people, it’s bright and colorful and looks about slightly bigger than the quinjets down at the facility. Looking up at the dashboard, it also has...a raccoon? Is that—?

“I’m sorry. Um. Is that a raccoon sitting at the controls?” Peter says slowly.

Quill snorts. “Don’t call him that within his hearing distance.”

“Come inside our ship, Peter Parker,” says Gamora, giving Quill a look. “I’m assuming you called us here for a reason.”

=

After following Gamora and Peter Quill into the ship (“It’s called the_ Benatar,” _Quill explained, gesturing around as the runway raised behind them.

“Like the singer?” Peter inquired before he could stop himself.

Quill looked surprised and immediately a little bit pleased. “Exactly. The singer.”), Peter takes in the other guests on board. If Quill is human, he’s definitely the only one; there’s the raccoon, a woman with too-large eyes and two glowing antennas, a blue-skinned man with red tattoos covering his skin, and a literal _ tree, _slumped over one of the chairs, playing a game on one of those old consoles that existed before Peter was born. There’s a table in the back, surrounded by screens. In the corridor is an old stereo built into the wall. 

“I’m—I’m sorry,” says Peter, getting Quill’s attention before speaking again, “so are you—are you all, like, aliens? Or are you human? ‘Cause you look human, so how did you end up in space?”

“You ask a lot of questions, huh?” Quill fires back. He takes his jacket off and throws it over one of the chairs. “Yeah, I’m Terran. Or from Earth, whatever. I left the planet when I was younger and I’ve been in space ever since.”

“Right.” says Peter. “And is that when you started going by Star-Lord?”

“So did the wizard _ give _you the pager? Or did you steal it?” Gamora inquires, before Quill has a chance to answer. It’s not until now that Peter notices the blade strapped to her thigh. 

“I didn’t steal it.” Peter says defensively. He pockets the pager. “Dr. Strange gave it to me. He told me to contact you. We were talking about the...Infinity Stones, he called them. He said you had an encounter with one of them, and to reach out to you if I didn’t believe what he said.”

A shadow falls over Quill’s face. He shares a look with Gamora that makes Peter’s stomach feel kinda queasy. “What exactly did he say?”

“That, um, some Titan was looking to collect all the stones. And that they’re a really big threat when they’re all together. He, uh, said the words, ‘we’re doomed.’ If this Titan gets them.”

“Did this Titan have a name?” Quill asks, eyes still on Gamora.

“If he does, I don’t know it.”

“Thanos.” Gamora says. “Now you know it.”

“Thanos,” Peter repeats. He turns around to face Gamora. “Do you guys know him? Dr. Strange said he almost got one of them a few years ago.”

“The power stone.” Quill replies. “Our run-in with the power stone involved a Kree who was looking to obtain the stone for Thanos. Lucky for us, he was a little power-hungry and decided to use it himself. We got it and hid it away before Thanos really got involved with it.”

Peter decides to pretend like he knows what a Kree is. Otherwise known as he doesn’t ask what a Kree is. “So you haven’t met this Thanos,” he presumes. “Have you heard of him, other than his name? Is he really that bad?”

“He’s horrible.” Gamora says, her voice cutting through the air like a blade. “A madman, a murderer. If he gets his hands on _ any _of the stones, let alone all of them...well, it’s like the wizard said. We’re doomed.”

That doesn’t make Peter feel any better. He watches as she starts to pace, pulling one of her blades from the strap on her thigh. “So we keep him from getting any of them.” Peter summarizes. “Do you guys know where they are?”

“The power stone is safe on Xandar, where we left it. The Nova Corps will protect it better than anyone else can.” Quill tells him. “The wizard has the time stone. We haven’t really been tracking the other ones.”

“One of our guys has one of them, like, in his head.” Peter replies. “The mind stone, I think. That’s all that I know.”

“If the wizard’s really serious about this, we should try to track them,” says Quill, but he’s looking at Gamora. “What did Tivan say? Reality, space, and soul are left.”

“The soul stone won’t be a problem.” Gamora answers. The ruby in the center of the blade she’s holding glints in the lights as she flips it between her fingers. “Nobody knows where that is. Not even Thanos.”

“So reality and space.” Quill amends. “We got any clues?”

“Tivan would be our first stop.” Gamora points out. “If there’s anyone who’s been keeping tabs, it’s Tivan.”

Quill scowls. “Yeah, and he’ll want a shit-ton of credits just for information. No go. I say we just start scouting on our own.”

Peter feels like he’s watching a very private moment as Gamora’s pacing stops dangerously close to Quill. “It’s _Thanos, _Peter,” she says, in a very soft voice. “We can’t take any chances.”

Quill studies her expression. He lays a hand on hers, very gently. “Okay,” he says. “We’ll head to Knowhere. We’ll see what Tivan has to say.” 

“I’m sorry,” interrupts Peter, before he can help himself. “Did you say nowhere?”

_ “Knowhere,” _corrects Gamora. She looks at Peter with the most vulnerable expression he’s seen since meeting her. He can read the fear in her eyes and it makes him feel even worse. “It’s a planet. It’s where we’ll get answers.”

“Better buckle up, kid,” Quill says, brushing past him. “‘Cause you’re coming with us.”

Peter blanches. “What?” he says. “No, no, _ no_—Mr. Lord—”

“Quill is fine.” 

“Quill, I—I can’t go to space!”

“Why not?”

“My lunch is over in—” Peter checks his watch and his heart sinks. “Um, ten minutes ago.”

Quill snickers. “Well,” he says. “You’re already late. Might as well just call it a day.”

“No, wait, really, I—”

“You can’t just be a normal child.” Gamora interrupts. She crosses her arms and scrutinizes him as Quill heads over to the front of the ship and starts murmuring something to the raccoon. “If the wizard gave you that pager, it must be because you’re important. And if you are important, then we need you. Besides, Peter Parker—_ you _ called _ us.” _

Peter’s starting to think that he really needs a vacation. “Well, yeah, but I didn’t expect you to take me on a space-cation within half an hour of meeting you.”

“Thanos is the worst threat you could possibly imagine.” she says. Her voice sets a chill in Peter’s bones. “We need to get ahead of him as quickly as we possibly can or we _ will _lose if he even gets the slightest bit in front of us. Please, Peter Parker. We need all the help we can get. You do this for us, and we will do something for you. Anything you need.”

_ Anything _is pretty nice. Especially considering he might need them to guard him so Tony doesn’t totally murder him. And they seem like nice enough people. And if Strange trusts them… “Okay,” says Peter, rather reluctantly. He takes his backpack off and sets it down on the floor. He’s glad he wore that spider on his chest under his shirt today. “Okay, Gamora. I’ll go with you guys to space. Just… let me make a quick phone call first.”

_ to be continued. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YES, this one is ACTUALLY multi-chapter!!! i'll post the next one as soon as i can. see you then!! <3 leave nice words plz


	2. things are gonna get easier

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “We can’t take any chances.” Gamora says tightly. “Infinity Stones are as indestructible as something can get. Peter Parker, do you know if there are any survivors of Asgard? Anyone who might be able to tell us if the stone survived?”
> 
> “Actually, yeah.” Peter says. He bites his lip. “But we gotta go back to Earth.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> here's the next chapter! have fun <3

_ “Hey, Em. It’s Peter. Listen, I won’t be making it back to school for the day. Or, uh, maybe tomorrow. Can you make something up for me? I told May I was going to the facility for some last minute stuff, but I’m actually going into space. Like,  _ actual  _ space. Yeah, it’s crazy. I’ll tell you all about it when I get back. But can you just maybe keep Mr. Stark from going crazy until I call you again? It shouldn’t be long, I promise. You’re the best. Thank you so, so much. Bye.” _

Michelle pulls her phone away from her ear and deletes the voicemail as soon as she’s done listening to it. “Fucker,” she mutters. Then she pockets her cell and walks away from her locker.

=

By the time the  _ Benatar  _ finishes its jumps from Earth to Knowhere, Peter feels like he’s about to literally throw up all of his vital organs. The spider feels like it’s sinking into his chest. He finally kind of feels like he knows how Tony felt before he had that surgery.

“You good, pipsqueak?”

Peter looks up. Well, kind of just straight ahead. Standing in front of him is the raccoon, who is wearing clothes and standing on two legs and  _ honestly  _ it’s not the weirdest thing Peter’s ever seen. “Uh, yeah, I’m good,” he croaks. “You guys got water on this ship?”

“Sure,” says the raccoon. “I’m Rocket, by the way. I was gonna introduce myself earlier but you were too busy yappin’ with the idiots.”

Peter blinks. “Oh,” he says. “Nice to meet you. I’m—”

“Peter,” says Rocket. “Yeah. I know. Quill won’t shut up about how you have the same name. Says it’s normal on Earth.”

“Uh, yeah, it kind of is. There are only so many names, you know?”

“No, I don’t know.”

“Oh. Okay.” Peter takes the cup from Rocket’s hand. “Thanks.”

“If you throw up, I’m gonna have to clean it.” Rocket says. “So don’t throw up.”

“Noted.” Peter says. He looks around and frowns. “Where did Quill and Gamora go?”

“To speak to the Collector. We’ve been sitting here for about ten minutes.”

“Already?”

Rocket smiles. Or at least Peter thinks it’s a smile. “The first time you jump isn’t exactly the easiest. I’m surprised you held out as long as you did.”

“Oh. Well, um, I’m not normal.” Peter says. “Not, like, only human, anyway. I got bit by a radioactive spider and I have, like, spidey powers.”

“That’s not somethin’ you hear every day.”

“I am Groot,” says the tree from his chair.

“Well,  _ no,”  _ says Rocket, turning to look at the tree. “But it’s still weird, Groot, especially for the Terrans.”

Peter lowers the cup from his mouth. “Is that all he says?” he asks. 

“Exclusively in that order.” Rocket nods. “It’s not that hard to understand what he’s sayin’, though. Most of the time he’s bein’ an asshole.”

“I am Groot,” mocks Groot, in a nasty voice that is  _ definitely  _ characteristic of being an asshole.

“See?” Rocket mutters, shaking his head. He points over to where Peter’s backpack is sitting. “There’s more water over there if you need it. I’m gonna go.”

“Okay,” says Peter. “Thanks again.”

Rocket walks away. From her seat, Peter can see the bug-eyed lady turn slightly so she can see him. 

“Uh, hey,” Peter says, tapping his fingers on the cup in his hand. “Hi. What’s your name?”

“I am Mantis,” she says, watching him curiously. 

“I… am Peter.” he replies. He grips the wall to stand up, stepping closer so she’s within arm reach. “Parker.”

“You have the same name as Peter Quill.” Mantis says, like she’s informing him of this for the first time.

“Yep. It’s a normal Earth custom.” Peter replies, because he’s probably telling her this for the first time. He holds out his hand at her.

She eyes his hand. “What are you doing?”

“Uh,” he says dumbly. “This is another Earth custom, we shake hands. It’s a greeting.”

Mantis reaches over and tentatively closes her hand around his. Her antennas glow, curving over toward Peter’s direction. She shuts her eyes tight and sways a little. 

“Um,” says Peter, and echoes her from just a moment ago. “What are you doing?”

“I am an empath,” says Mantis with her eyes closed. “If I make physical contact with someone I can—”

“Feel their feelings.” Peter finishes. “Yeah. I know what an empath is. So you’re...you know, feeling my feelings?” He’s starting to think he shouldn’t have offered to shake her hand.

“Yes.” 

“So… what are you feeling?”

When Mantis opens her eyes again, Peter’s surprised to see the glimmer of tears in them. She removes her hand from his to wipe at her eyes before they can fall. “Everything you feel,” she says. “Everything you have felt.”

Peter kinda feels naked. It’s not a good feeling. He wonders if his phone would work up in space so he could, like, distract himself with a game or something. “Oh.” he says. “Oh, okay. Cool. Great. Good to know.”

“I am Groot.” Groot says. His attention isn’t on the game for the first time since Peter met him; it’s mostly on him and Mantis, a small frown crossing his tree face. He’s quite possibly the most interesting creature Peter has ever seen.

“I, um, don’t know what that means.” Peter says honestly, tearing his gaze away from Mantis.

“He doesn’t say anything interesting, anyway.” Rocket says from his seat. “Don’t mind it, kid. Mantis, can you find where the hell Drax went off to? We need to get him a bell or something. A bell around his neck.”

“He’s probably off finding more Zarg-nuts.” Mantis muses, but she rises from her seat nonetheless. “It is nice to meet you, Peter,” she adds, and then glides past him, her antennas hovering just above her hairline.

Peter really wishes he had signal up in space. Or he wishes Quill’s ship had wifi. Then again, Quill probably has no idea what wifi is. He thinks Tony wouldn’t be able to stand this guy. 

Tony. Oh, shit. He knows at this point that he’s probably got at least one missed call from him. Or if Tony’s called May and the two of them are already pissed at him. He hopes Michelle actually helps him out for once instead of insulting him after listening to his voicemail. 

Because Peter knows one thing. Whether this mission proves successful or not: the minute he gets back to Earth, he’s getting his ass beat. Maybe Quill and his friends would adopt Peter. Maybe he can stay in space and then, like, not die. That would be great. Not dying would be preferable. Plus, he could add something to the team, right? He’s got the spider suit with him. He’s been tweaking it enough with Ned to know how to fix it. Maybe add something. 

No. Who is he kidding? He can’t even be an Avenger. He’s not an Avenger. He can’t stay in space. He’s got homework. Finals. A girlfriend who would literally murder him. Like, Peter has zero doubt that Michelle would kill him. He thinks she’d get along with Gamora, though, so maybe he could stay in her good side. 

It’s a lot of maybes. His entire fucking life is maybes right now.  _ Maybe  _ Thanos the Titan will collect the stones.  _ Maybe  _ Peter Quill and Gamora can find out where the other stones are and prevent that from happening.  _ Maybe  _ the entire cosmos will—

“Hey, they’re comin’ back!” says Rocket, breaking Peter out of his reverie just as the ship creaks and opens the hatch. “Took ya long enough. What’d you find out?”

“Tivan said he had no idea where the reality stone was,” says Gamora, Quill hovering behind her. The  _ Benatar  _ closes behind them. “But he said the last he’d heard, the space stone was on the realm of Asgard.”

“Okay.” Rocket says. “So we pop on over to this Asgard and ask anybody if they know anythin’. Easy peasy.”

Quill moves to sit sideways in his pilot’s chair and throws his legs over the armrest, reclining in it in a way that cannot be comfortable. Peter’s face falls just as his heart sinks. “Oh, shit,” he says, leaning his head back against the wall of the corridor. “Not easy peasy.”

“What?” Quill sits straight up. “Why the hell not?”

“Asgard,” says Peter. “Getting there’s gonna be a bit of a problem.”

“I am Groot?” says the tree.

“Asgard is, uh, gone. Like, obliterated.” 

Quill blinks. “What do you mean,  _ obliterated?” _

“Like, a big fire monster god blew it up. It’s destroyed. There is no more Asgard.”

“Then where is the space stone?”

Peter shrugs. “I don’t know,” he says. “If that fire god was strong enough to destroy the entire realm, maybe he was strong enough to destroy the stone, too.”

“We can’t take any chances.” Gamora says tightly. “Infinity Stones are as indestructible as something can get. Peter Parker, do you know if there are any survivors of Asgard? Anyone who might be able to tell us if the stone survived?”

Peter thinks of Thor and his people, residing in that little fisherman’s town on the coast of Norway. They’ve been through enough, he knows. They don’t need a ragtag team of aliens coming down to interrogate them about a stone that they probably don’t even know about.

Then again, Thor was there when Vision was created. And it was Loki’s staff that held the mind stone, anyway. If anybody knows anything about the other stones…

It would be the trickster god. Who, coincidentally, is also staying with Thor and his people in that little fisherman’s town on the coast of Norway.

“Actually, yeah.” Peter says. He bites his lip. “But we gotta go back to Earth.”

=

The descent to Norway is fairly easy. Surprisingly, it’s not hard to lead Quill and Rocket in the direction of the country. Thankfully, Peter had noticed the coordinates on the quinjet the last time he’d flown to Norway and thankfully, the  _ Benatar _ has generally the same look on its console as the quinjet.

And also, thankfully, there’s no Asian wizard with glowing hands waiting on the cliff when they make their descent.

“Okay, guys, um, you gotta let me lead.” Peter says, gripping the back of Quill’s chair as they break the atmosphere. “They know me here. Maybe let me go by myself and then come back to get you when the coast is clear.”

“No offense, kid, but we’re not scared of Asgardians.” Quill tells him.

Peter’s eyebrows shoot up. “Do you know who the Asgardians are?”

“...No.”

“Exactly,” he says. “Most of them are harmless, but some of them are… well, they’re protective. And they just lost their entire realm, man. Just let me do this.”

Quill leans back to look at Gamora. They do that thing where they share a look for too long of a time. Then, reluctantly, Quill says, “Okay, kid. I trust you. You still got that pager?”

Peter nods. “Yeah.”

“Click it when the coast is clear. Then we’ll make our way over. Is that okay?”

“Yeah, that’s okay.”

“Good.” Quill looks back out of the dashboard. 

“Good.” Peter echoes. He smiles a little bit, despite himself. “I’m, uh, I’m gonna go suit up.”

Quill looks skeptical. “Suit up with what?”

“He’s a spider.” Rocket pipes up.

Quill’s eyes widen to the size of dinner plates. “You’re a  _ what?” _

Peter’s smile widens. He unzips his hoodie and lets go of Quill’s seat. “You’ll see. I’ll be back.”

“What the...you know what, I’m not gonna ask. Just hold onto something back there. Landing can be kinda choppy.”

“Got it!”

“Rocket, hit the boosters for landing. No—shit, no, not that—!”

Peter stumbles as he heads back to where his backpack sits. Quill and Rocket start bickering while Peter crouches next to his bag, shoving his hoodie inside. He’s about to reach for his shirt when his phone in his pocket starts going nuts.

Oh, shit.

He pulls it out. They must have gotten close enough to the ground for his phone signal to kick in. The messages from his group chat with Michelle and Ned pop up first, followed by May, then Tony. 

Then Happy. And Pepper. Wanda’s name pops up before Tony’s goes back to the top of the list with not one, not two, but  _ six  _ messages. Missed calls from both Tony and Ned pop up, then two missed calls from May. 

Uh oh. All of a sudden he’s got notifications of voicemails from May, Tony, Ned,  _ and  _ Michelle. Then Pepper’s name pops up.

Yeah, he’s fucking dead.

Without taking another moment to think about it, he shoves his phone into his bag and throws his shirt on top of it. He’s literally going to die. Goodbye, world. At least one of his last moments will be spent with Thor and Bruce Banner. That’s a pretty good way for him to die.

He presses the spider on his chest and watches as it spreads over his skin. It’ll never get old. It’s tight, like a second skin, but it moves effortlessly as Peter twists his arm to watch it spread over his fingertips. He kicks his jeans off as the suit spreads over his legs and his shoes just as the bottoms of his suit thicken to create a pair of boots over his sockets.

The ship jerks forward and he slams his hand against the wall to keep from literally crashing into the back of Drax’s seat, because he’s pretty sure Drax has the capability to kill him with one arm and very gladly would. Peter hasn’t said a word to him because he’s literally terrified. He thinks Drax is the first person to scare him more than Michelle. 

“Welcome to Nor-why!” Quill announces.

“Norway.” Peter corrects as his mask recedes from his face, letting go of the wall.

“Norway!” 

Peter half-laughs, half-grunts as he grabs his bag, repositioning it against the wall. He grabs the pager from the pocket of his jeans and then throws the jeans into his bag, followed by his shoes. Once checking to make sure that his web-shooters are completely full, he shoots one at his bag to keep it in place, and then stands straight up, keeping the pager in his hand. “All right, guys. I’m gonna go out there.” 

“See? He’s a frickin’ spider,” says Rocket, standing up in his seat to point right at the spider emblazoned on Peter’s chest.

Quill looks impressed and horrified at the same time. “Holy shit.”

“I’m not a spider.” Peter protests, but judging by the expressions on their faces, he decides to just drop it. “Yeah. Okay. Whatever. I’m gonna...yeah, I’m gonna go out there. I got the pager, so...stay here.”

He walks out of the ship and it closes immediately behind him. The wind is cold and stings Peter’s face, so he puts his mask back on and continues down the cliff. He can see the tiny town where the people of Asgard have settled; there are people in boats on the coast and kids playing on the decks and—

_ “Peter, you have an incoming call from Tony Stark.” _

Fuck! Peter’s really gotta remind himself to tell Karen to silence all calls. “No, no, Karen, don’t answer, don’t—”

But he should know better. His AI is programmed to push every call from Tony through, no matter what. Tony’s face pops up as Peter scrambles down the cliff, down to where he remembers setting up Thor’s home.  _ “Peter Parker.” _

That’s the tone of disappointment. Wow, does Peter love that tone. “Uh, hey, Mr. Stark!”

_ “Cut the shit, kid. Where the hell are you?” _

“Um...I can’t tell you.”

_ “I’m sorry?” _

“I can’t—”

_ “No, no, I heard you.”  _ There’s literal fury in Tony’s eyes.  _ “I’m just trying to comprehend why you think that’s an acceptable answer.” _

“It’s a very long story, Mr. Stark,” says Peter timidly, crawling down the side of the cliff. 

_ “I—you know what, fuck this. I don’t know why I’m doing this. I’m just going to hack into your suit and get your location myself.” _

Peter winces. “Well, um, you could, except… Ned and I disabled that feature.”

Tony is silent for a moment. Peter can see the vein in his forehead literally pulsing.  _ “Why?” _

“Um...for science?”

_ “Peter. Benjamin. Parker—” _

“Oh,  _ not  _ the whole name, please—”

_ “You’re grounded.” _ Tony says firmly.  _ “You hear me? The minute I get your ass back here, I’m taking the suit. It’s mine. You’re grounded.” _

Peter lands on the ground and anger flares through him. “Hold on,” he snaps. “You can’t do that!”

_ “And why not?” _

“Because—because it’s not fair!”

_“It’s not _fair?” Tony demands. _“No, what’s not _fair_ is you taking this multi-million dollar suit I built for you and taking it on a fucking joyride God knows where and not telling me where you are! Not _fair_ is making me worry out of my mind!”_

“Why can’t you just trust me?” Peter shouts back. “I can handle things! I’m not a kid anymore!”

_ “Yes, you are.” _

“You know what I mean!” he crosses his arms. “I can handle big missions! I can handle things, Mr. Stark! And you treat me with kid gloves all the time!”

But Tony is shaking his head.  _ “I’m not having this argument with you.” _ he says.  _ “I’m giving you one last chance. Tell me where you are and maybe we can talk this out.” _

Peter watches as the door to Thor’s house opens and the god of thunder himself steps out. Following behind him is Bruce, and the Valkyrie woman. He turns to face the cliff, the top of the  _ Benatar  _ shining in the sunlight. He’s probably got ten minutes before Thor notices it and potentially wreaks havoc on it.

“Just let me do this.” Peter pleads. “Please, Mr. Stark.”  _ Just let me do this,  _ Peter had said to Quill. “Just trust me.”

_ Okay, kid,  _ Quill had replied.  _ I trust you. _

_ “Tell me where you are.” _ Tony says. Peter’s heart sinks with every word.  _ “Now.” _

“I’m sorry.” he murmurs. “I can’t do that. Karen, end the call. Can you block all incoming calls, including from Mr. Stark?”

_ “He built me, Peter,” _ says Karen, as Tony’s face disappears from Peter’s view.  _ “I can’t do that while I’m active.” _

Peter’s eyes sting. It takes him a minute to realize he’s crying. “Okay,” he says. “Um, okay. Then, um, please deactivate.”

_ “Peter—” _

“I said deactivate, Karen. Please.”

The AI doesn’t respond. Peter takes that as a good sign as the interior of his mask fades. He lets it retract from his face and wipes furiously at the tears streaking his cheeks, fingers trembling around the pager in his hand. “Okay, Peter,” he says, taking a deep breath. “You got this. It’s fine. Everything is fine.”

He’s making his way down the remainder of the way before he can really process it. The Valkyrie is the first to notice him, saying something he can’t hear to make both Bruce and Thor turn to face Peter.

“Peter!” says Bruce, sounding pleasantly surprised. “What are you doing here?”

“Hey, Bruce.” Peter says. From his point of view, the  _ Benatar  _ is completely hidden.  _ I trust you I trust you I trust you,  _ says Quill’s voice in his head. “Hey, Thor. Listen… Can we talk?”

“Of course, man of spiders.” Thor’s eyebrows furrow. “You sound distressed. Is everything all right?”

“Kind of,” says Peter, fidgeting with the pager in his hands. “Not really. It’s kinda serious. Loki’s around here somewhere, right?”

“He spends most of his days in his lodging.” Valkyrie says, crossing her arms. “But he’s here.”

“Is he in some sort of trouble?” Thor inquires.

Peter bites his lip. “No. He just probably knows some stuff that can really help us.”

“‘Us?’” Bruce echoes. “Who is  _ us?” _

“It’s a long story,” he says. He rubs the back of his neck. “But I gotta talk to Loki too.”

“I’ll get him.” Valkyrie offers, dropping her arms. 

“We can converse inside my home.” Thor says, gesturing to the door beside them. “I think you’ll like it, Peter Parker. I’ve decorated extensively since your last visit.”

“Good. Great. That’s cool.” Peter lets out a breath. 

“Peter.” Bruce says, putting a hand on Peter’s shoulder before he can move another step. “Does Tony know you’re here?”

The mention of Tony sets Peter’s stomach churning. “Tony doesn’t know anything about what I’m gonna ask you guys,” he answers. “And you can’t tell him. Not yet.”

“You’re freakin’ me out, Peter.”

Peter inhales and turns, letting Bruce’s hand fall as he faces both him and Thor. “What… what do you guys know about Infinity Stones?”

_ to be continued. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it's probably gonna get worse before it gets better. there will probably be no more than 5 chapters for this fic? and it won't be the last in the series. so leave some nice words please!!


	3. bring it on home to me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gamora shakes her head, fixes her gaze on a point on the ground. “The entire time I knew Thanos, he only ever had one goal: to bring balance to the universe by wiping out half of all life. He used to kill people planet by planet, massacre by massacre...and if he gets all six Infinity Stones, he can do it with the snap of his fingers." 
> 
> She snaps her fingers, the sound reverberating through the silent room. "Like this.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i did borrow some dialogue from the guardians/thor scene from infinity war, because i felt like the dialogue flowed well and worked with the plot.
> 
> enjoy! <3

“Peter.” Bruce says, putting a hand on Peter’s shoulder before he can move another step. “Does Tony know you’re here?”

The mention of Tony sets Peter’s stomach churning. “Tony doesn’t know anything about what I’m gonna ask you guys,” he answers. “And you can’t tell him. Not yet.”

“You’re freakin’ me out, Peter.”

Peter inhales and turns, letting Bruce’s hand fall as he faces both him and Thor. “What… what do you guys know about Infinity Stones?”

=

Peter sits on Thor’s couch and feels like he’s sinking into the cushions. He’s sitting by himself, with Bruce sitting in the loveseat across the room and Thor pacing between them. Valkyrie should be on her way back with Loki in tow, but the seconds feel like hours and the electricity in the air emitting from the god of thunder really isn’t helping anything. 

He remembers the way Thor’s face darkened when Peter had mentioned the stones. He’s pretty sure lightning had actually flashed through the god’s eyes and it was extremely terrifying. Judging by Bruce’s body language, Peter doesn’t think he knows anything about the stones, but he can tell that they’re bad. Bruce knows Thor better than any of the other Avengers. If Bruce is acting uncomfortable because of Thor’s behavior, then the Infinity Stones  _ have  _ to be a bad thing. And with every step Thor takes, Peter’s heart sinks even lower.

“Should I, uh, call my friends?” Peter says hesitantly, holding up the pager.

Thor ceases his pacing to eye the device. “And what friends have you brought, Peter Parker?” he says darkly. “How do they know of the stones?”

“Um,” says Peter. “They’ve...encountered one. They talked to some guy that brought us here. The...Collector, I think his name is?”

“The Collector?” Thor echoes. “The one on Knowhere?”

Peter sits up straighter. “You know where that is?”

“Of course I do,” says Thor, a bit miffed. “We sent the reality stone to the Collector for safekeeping after the Dark Elves tried to steal it back from us.”

“Um,” says Peter. “Apparently, he said he had no idea where the reality stone was.”

Thor’s eyes darken. “Bastard,” he says, voice booming like thunder. “So he’s a liar as well as a sketchy trader.”

“If he’s sketchy, why did you give the stone to him?” Peter wonders aloud, and immediately winces at Thor’s scathing look. “Sorry. Sorry. I’m sure you have your reasons, Mr. Thor, sir.”

“Call your friends.” Thor says, ignoring Peter’s comment. “Warn them to be cautious, or I will show no mercy.”

“That’s...not really how a pager works,” says Peter, but to no avail, since Thor begins pacing again; he presses the button on the pager anyway and sets it aside, leaning back into the couch. Bruce is watching him in a way that makes Peter feel a bit like he’s being watched under a microscope. 

“Tony’s not going to be happy with you.” Bruce says, almost like he read Peter’s mind.

Peter exhales. “He already isn’t,” he says. “I talked to him just before I came down to you guys.”

That stops Thor’s pacing. “What did he say to you?”

“He doesn’t trust me.” Peter mutters, fingers tightening on his knees. 

“Of course he trusts you, Peter.”

“No, he doesn’t.” Peter insists. “I told him to trust me and he didn’t listen to me. He never listens to me.”

“Is that why you’re doing this on your own?” Bruce inquires. “Because you think Tony doesn’t trust you?”

“No,” says Peter, “I’m doing this because Dr. Strange told me that we need Tony on our side.”

“So pissing him off is the way to get him on your side, is it?”

“You know the threat that the Infinity Stones bring.” Peter says, looking from Bruce to Thor. The mention of the stones is like a trigger; every time it’s mentioned, a shadow falls over Thor’s expression. “Dr. Strange said that if we’re not all on the same team, we’ll lose. I’m doing this so we don’t  _ lose.  _ So we don’t die. So some crazy mad Titan doesn’t gather all the stones and kill us all.”

Thor looks at Bruce. “Titan?”

“Yeah.” Peter replies. “A Titan. His name is Thanos, I guess. He wants all the stones and he’s, like, a psychopath, or something.”

“Perhaps it’s best if we wait to continue the conversation until your friends arrive.” Thor advises. His eyes don’t leave Bruce’s face. “Would you like a drink, man of spiders?”

“Um,” says Peter. “I’m seventeen.”

Thor looks unfazed. “So is that a yes, or…?”

“Do you, uh, have any soda? Or juice?”

“Just get him some water, Thor.” Bruce says. “Water’s fine.”

“Look,” says Peter, as Thor saunters into the kitchen. “I know I messed up, Dr. Banner. I know Tony’s really, really mad at me. But I’m going home after this, I promise. And I’ll tell him everything. I’ve just… I’ve never faced anything like this before. And I don’t know what to do.”

Bruce’s expression softens. “I’ve known Tony a long time, you know?” he rubs his hands on his legs and then stands up, crossing the room to sit beside Peter on the couch. “Ever since the first alien threat that came to Earth. It was Loki with a horde of space aliens. It was the first time we worked together as a team. The Avengers. And the next time we had a similar-level threat, Tony tried to build a suit of armor around the world. He knows the kind of threats that are up in space, kid. Chances are, he might already know exactly what kind of threat you’re freaking out about.”

That doesn’t make Peter feel better at all. “So you’re saying I made this worse?”

“No.” Bruce promises. “I’m not saying that. I’m saying that he would probably react the same way. But, uh, maybe with more drinking. And another robot, or something. So just  _ be honest  _ with him. Tony’s a lot of things, but when it comes to you, I think he gets as simple as he can be.”

Peter rubs the back of his neck. “What does that mean?”

“That  _ means,”  _ says Bruce, and he says it with a hint of a smile, “that Tony cares about you more than I’ve ever seen him care about anyone. Besides Pepper, of course. And that means something. So give him another call.”

Before Peter can answer, the pager on the couch beeps. “That’s them,” he says, standing up. “I think they’re outside.”

Thor makes it to the door before Peter does. He pulls it open to reveal Quill standing in the doorway, with Gamora at his side; the others are standing behind them, Rocket sitting on Groot’s shoulders.

“Friends of Peter,” says Thor, standing aside to let them in. “We have much to talk about.”

=

Compared to the very tall, very muscular man in the room, Quill feels very small. He also doesn’t like the way Gamora is studying him. 

“It’s like a pirate had a baby with an angel.” Drax says quietly. 

“He is very muscular.” Mantis agrees, her fingers twitching like she wants to reach out to touch the man’s arm. 

“Yes,” says Drax. “He could crush Quill with one hand.”

“Hey.” Quill says, staring both of them down. “I’m right here. And I take offense to that, Drax, ‘cause I’m  _ very  _ muscular too.”

“Who are you kiddin’, Quill?” Rocket says, hopping off of Groot’s shoulders. “You’re one sandwich away from fat.”

“It’s like his muscles are made of Cotati metal fibers.” Gamora murmurs.

Quill wants to die. “Are you kidding me?”

“My name is Thor,” says the tall man, watching them carefully. “My friend Peter Parker tells me you know a great deal about the Infinity Stones.”

The kid is sitting on the couch beside another man, still in his suit, still with that kicked puppy look. Quill crosses his arms as Groot sits in the empty chair behind them, already pulling out that stupid video game. Quill  _ swears  _ he’d told Groot to keep that on the  _ Benatar.  _ “And this...Titan,” Thor continues. “Thanos.”

Gamora stiffens slightly. Her hand goes to the sheath on her hip, where the rubied blade is hidden. Quill thinks he’s the only one who can tell how difficult it is for her to talk about this. “He’s a psychopath,” she says. “He’ll stop at nothing to get what he wants.”

“And what is it that he wants?”

She shakes her head, fixes her gaze on a point on the ground. “The entire time I knew Thanos, he only ever had one goal: to bring balance to the universe by wiping out half of all life. He used to kill people planet by planet, massacre by massacre—”

“Including my own,” says Drax. 

“—and if he gets all six Infinity Stones...he can do it with the snap of his fingers. Like this.” Gamora snaps her fingers, the sound reverberating through the silent room. 

Thor’s eyebrows furrow. “You seem to know a great deal about Thanos.”

Gamora straightens her shoulders. “He’s my father,” she says, raising her chin.

The kid’s eyes go wide. “Wait, what?” he asks. “You didn’t tell me that.”

“It’s not something she likes to brag about.” Quill snaps.

“Families can be tough,” says Thor, with a look that makes the kid’s jaw snap shut. “It’s life, isn’t it, I guess. The man of spiders also says you visited Knowhere, spoke to the Collector.”

“Yes.” Gamora says. Her hand stays positioned over the sheath on her hip. “We wanted to find the remaining stones: the space stone and the reality stone.”

“If he told you he was unaware of the reality stone’s whereabouts, he’s a liar.” Thor says firmly. 

“How do you know that?”

“Because for years, said stone has been safely stored there with him.”

Quill gapes at him. “If it’s with the Collector, then it’s not safe. Only an idiot would give a man that stone.”

Thor’s eye narrows. “Or a genius.”

“So he has the reality stone.” Gamora interjects. “Peter Parker told us that the time and mind stones are here, on Earth. The power stone is safe on Xandar with the Nova Corps. And nobody knows where the soul stone is. So Thanos can’t get it. That leaves the space stone.”

“The space stone presents itself in the form of an energy source that we call the Tesseract.” the man sitting beside the kid says. 

“The Tesseract.” Thor echoes. He doesn’t look very happy. “It was on Asgard when it was destroyed.”

“The stones are indestructible,” says Gamora, shaking her head. “It has to still be out there.”

“Oh,” says a new voice. “It is.”

=

Valkyrie stands in the doorway with her arm wrapped firmly around Loki’s. The trickster god looks the same as when Peter last saw him; same mischievous expression, still dressed in the leather ensemble and cape he’d had on. While he looks mildly sheepish, Valkyrie looks ready to kill. “Why don’t you show them what I found you playing with?”

“I wasn’t  _ playing  _ with it,” says Loki, extremely annoyed.

“Brother.” Thor warns. 

Loki glances at him and his expression falters. “Very well,” he says, and brandishes his hand upward.

Immediately the room is filled with a blue light. Sitting in Loki’s hand is a blue cube, swirling with energy and power. A faint buzzing noise makes Peter’s spidey-sense go crazy. “Is that...the Tesseract?” he asks faintly.

Thor looks like he’s not surprised at all. “You really are the worst, brother.”

“That’s the space stone?” Gamora inquires.

“Call me sentimental,” says Loki, extending his arm to Thor. “But I couldn’t let an old companion be destroyed with the rest of our home.”

Thor takes the Tesseract from his brother and lowers it from eye view, the blue light disappearing as he does so. “So we have three stones on Earth. You’ll have to travel back to Knowhere to retrieve the reality stone from the Collector.”

“That’s gonna take a while.” Quill mutters. “Tivan’s a pain in our ass.”

“We can do it.” Gamora interjects. With a sharp look at Quill, she adds, “It’s not a problem.”

“Wait, wait, wait,” says Peter. “We shouldn’t be gathering all the stones in the same place. Shouldn’t we, like, be hiding them in new places?”

“The reality stone is no longer safe on Knowhere if someone is looking to obtain all six stones.” Thor informs him. “We must retrieve it and relocate it before this Thanos sets his sights on it.”

“We’ll need to warn the Nova Corps, too,” says Quill, as Gamora nods in agreement. “We can send them a transmission the minute we get back. Where exactly are the other two stones here?”

“Dr. Strange has the time stone.” Peter recalls. “It’s safe with him. He’s the only one who can access it, so it’s safe.”

“And the mind stone is in Vision’s head.” Bruce adds. “But we can give him a heads up.”

“I don’t trust my brother farther than I can throw him,” notes Thor, while Loki mutters his thanks under his breath. “But if anyone can hide an Infinity Stone successfully, it’s the god of mischief.”

“So that’s all of the stones.” Gamora crosses her arms. “All scattered.”

“It can’t be that easy.” Peter says, standing from his seat on the couch. “Is there any way to find out where Thanos might be?”

“If he even suspects that we’re trying to seek him out, he might speed up his timeline.” Gamora shakes her head. “We can’t do that.”

“So we’re just supposed to scatter the stones and then wait to see when he’ll strike?”

“That’s all we can do.”

“There is...one more thing.” Thor says hesitantly. At nearly everyone’s surprised look, he elaborates. “Nidavellir.”

“That’s a made up word.” Drax says instantly.

Thor glowers. “All words are made up.”

“Hold on.” Rocket says. Even Groot looks up from his game. “Nidavellir? That’s real?”

“You know of it?” Thor asks, surprised.

Rocket lets out a short laugh. “That place is a legend! They make the most powerful, horrific weapons to ever torment the universe.”

“Correct,” says Thor pleasantly. “Among those weapons are the Titan-killing kind. And as I am in need of a new hammer, there’s no better place to visit for what I need.”

“We have a pod on the  _ Benatar.”  _ Quill offers. “We can take you into space and separate up there.”

“Very well.” Thor nods, clasping his hands together. “So it’s settled. This man and his friends—” 

“I am Groot.” interrupts the tree, speaking for the first time since entering the room.

Thor turns toward him. “Who are...the Guardians of the Galaxy?”

“You speak Groot?” Rocket’s eyes go wide.

“It was an elective on Asgard,” says Thor flippantly.

“We’re the Guardians of the Galaxy.” Quill informs him, crossing his arms. “That’s our name. The Guardians of the Galaxy.”

“All right, then.” Thor clears his throat. “The, uh, Guardians of the Galaxy will travel to Knowhere. I will pilot my way to Nidavellir and have Eitri forge me a new weapon.”

“That is  _ not  _ English.” Peter mutters. 

“The rest of you will remain here.” Thor continues as if Peter didn’t speak. “Brunnhilde will watch over my people while I’m gone. Should anything fall out of place—”

“Should  _ Loki  _ fall out of place, you mean.” Valkyrie mutters.

“—I trust her to make things right.” he finishes, with a tight smile at the woman in question. “And we have the Hulk, should Loki try anything.”

“Do I get  _ no  _ trust around here?” Loki complains.

“No.” Thor says immediately, his statement echoed by both Valkyrie and Bruce. 

“What about me?” Peter protests. Everybody turns toward him, like they forgot he was in the room. “I can do something too.”

“You got us this far, kid,” says Quill with a shake of his head.

“I agree.” Bruce says firmly. “Pete, it’s time for you to go home.”

Peter’s heart sinks. “What? No! I can do something!”

“You’ve done enough, man of spiders.” Thor promises. “Why don’t you give Stark a call on your phone and have him come pick you up?”

For once in Peter’s life, he actually felt like he wasn’t being treated like a kid. It’s funny how quickly that moment went away. 

Quill’s expression softens. He takes a step closer to him. “Listen, kid,” he says, putting a hand on Peter’s shoulder. “You got us this far. Let us do the rest. Someone’s gotta go spread the word down here, right?” Peter bites his lip while Quill continues. “You’ve still got that pager. I’ll keep you updated. Maybe Rocket can whip up a transmission device that can reach you all the way down here while we’re in space.”

“All right,” says Peter reluctantly. “Okay, fine. My, uh, my bag’s on the  _ Benatar,  _ though.”

Quill claps his shoulder. “Then let’s get over to the ship.”

=

Rocket’s busy tinkering away in the back when Peter digs through his bag to find his phone. The notifications have stopped, but it took pretty much all of Peter’s battery, which kinda sucks because he doesn’t have a charger. He’s probably got enough battery to make one quick phone call.

He doesn’t even have to think about who he calls.

_“Peter?”_ May asks when she picks up, worry laced in her tone. _“Oh, thank—”_

“I’m in Tønsberg.” Peter says quickly, before she can say anything else. He hates how childish he immediately sounds. “Tønsberg, Norway. I’m okay. I’m with Thor and Bruce and the Asgardians. Can you tell Mr. Stark so he can come pick me up?”

_“Oh, baby,”_ says his aunt, breathing out. _“Why are you all the way out there?”_

“It’s a long story, Aunt May.” Peter admits. “It’s a very long story. I’ll tell you everything when I come home.”

_ to be continued. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> what did you think??


	4. tomorrow is another day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony never forgets about anything. And that’s what Peter’s afraid of.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAHAAAA SORRY FOR NOT UPDATING

The quinjet settles on the landing strip of the Avengers Facility, the noise of the engine filling in the deafening silence between its passengers on the inside.

How long was that flight? Eight hours? Eight hours of complete silence while Peter sat slouched in one of the chairs in back and Tony sat at the controls. The quinjet pilots itself but Tony sat up there the entire time anyway and did not look back at Peter once.

Peter’s back in his jeans and hoodie. He’d changed back in Norway, hidden his spider deep in the bottom of his bag. Tony hadn’t said anything about it then and, obviously, still hasn’t. Peter’s hoping Tony will forget about it.

But Tony never forgets about anything. And that’s what Peter’s afraid of.

The pager’s somewhere in his bag too, probably right by his suit. He’s not using it, not anymore; Rocket had ended up tossing some weird device that had a screen and a projected keyboard, so while Peter doesn’t need the pager anymore, he knows he should probably return it to Dr. Strange.

The quinjet opens to reveal May and Happy, both standing just inches from where the jet landed. Happy has his usual stoic expression plastered on his face, but May… well, May looks worried. Upset. Angry. Her usual multitude of emotions when Peter fucks up.

But she opens her arms when Peter steps off the quinjet and folds them around him when he takes one step closer. “Norway,” she breathes into his hair, shaking her head against his.  _ “Norway?” _

“I’m sorry.” Peter mumbles into the fabric of her sweater. “I know. I’m sorry.”

May pulls away to smooth his curls back from his face. She looks years older than she is right in this moment, studying her nephew carefully. Peter knows this isn’t what she signed up for. Taking care of her late brother-in-law’s son is one thing. Dealing with Peter’s double life is another. “I’m sorry.” Peter repeats, because he doesn’t think he can say anything else.

His aunt sighs. “Come on,” she says, reaching down to grasp his hand. “Let’s go home. I think Ned’s still camped out in our living room.”

Peter turns to see Tony stepping off, closing the jet behind him, back still turned. Peter doesn’t think his mentor has looked him in the eye once this entire time. “Mr. Stark,” he tries.

“What’s that thing Cap always tells you?” Tony says, turning only slightly, so his profile faces Peter. “Don’t text him for at least another week?”

“Please. I’m—”

“Isn’t that what he tells you?”

“Um. Yeah. Sometimes. But that’s only—”

“Don’t text me for at least another week, Parker,” he interrupts. Happy bows his head just a little. “Be lucky that’s all I’m doing about this.”

May’s hand in his is all that keeps Peter from following after the billionaire. Happy glances at Peter and May and then follows after him, back into the facility, disappearing behind tinted glass doors. “Come on, baby.” May repeats, giving Peter’s hand a gentle tug. “You owe me a story.”

She says  _ story  _ but her tone says  _ explanation.  _ Peter’s legs feel numb as he follows her to their car, slides into the passenger seat, and watches the Avengers Facility fade from view out of his window.

=

Ned isn’t in their living room when they get home, like May had thought. But Peter’s phone has two more messages from his best friend and a missed call from Michelle. And eventually, after a long, tiring recap of Peter’s recent experiences and five slices of pizza that settle like rocks in his stomach, he answers Michelle and Ned’s messages.

May, being the completely  _ amazing  _ aunt she is, allows Peter to invite his friends over to retell the same story. She lets them be in Peter’s room by themselves; Ned and Michelle sit on the bottom bunk of Peter’s bed while he paces in front of them. He starts out the same way he told May: Dr. Strange, the pager, the Guardians. He tells them about landing on Norway and Thor and Bruce, about Valkyrie and Loki, and about the Infinity Stones. 

“So Thor went to get some kind of weapon,” Peter explains, looking down. “And the Guardians went to get the other stone from that Collector guy. And I got told to go home, which—I did, and Mr. Stark flew me here, and...here I am.”

“Hold on.” Ned says, holding up a hand. “Why does Thor need a weapon?”

“His hammer’s dead,” says Michelle. “Duh. Keep up.”

“Thor lost his  _ hammer?” _

“And his eye. Where have you been?”

“Uh, I don’t know? How did you know all of this?”

“I’m dating Spider-Man.” Michelle says, rolling her eyes.

“Well, I’m his best friend!”

“Guys.” Peter interrupts. His friends both stare at him, and under the weight of their gaze he looks away again, swallowing the lump forming in his throat. “Seriously. I...I messed up. I thought I could do this on my own. I didn’t think Mr. Stark would be this mad. I didn’t think—”

“Exactly.” Michelle says, nudging his foot with her own. Her tone softens. “You didn’t think. You never think.”

“That’s not helping,” he mutters.

“It’s true.” Ned chimes in. “You don’t think, Peter. But what MJ is trying to say is that regardless of your diving in head-first, you had good intentions. That’s what counts.” He glances at Michelle hesitantly. “Right? That’s what you’re trying to say?”

Michelle gently punches his shoulder. “For once, dork, you got it right.”

Peter runs his hand through his hair. “I just don’t know how to fix things,” he says. “I need to fix things.”

“Stark said to give him time.” Michelle reminds him. “So that’s what you do. And afterwards, you let him yell at you and get all his anger out. Then, you apologize, and then, the two of you rejoin your new friends and figure out how to work together.”

“I don’t think it’s going to be that easy.” Peter mutters.

“It will be.” Ned promises. “At least, it has to be. Because all this universe-and-stones shit is freaking me out.”

After that, May orders another pizza and puts on  _ Empire Strikes Back  _ in the living room before she takes off for the night shift. She hugs Peter tight, puts a hand on the back of his head, and before she pulls away, she brushes his curls out of his face.

“I’m still really sorry.” Peter murmurs.

His aunt looks older than she ever has before in this lighting. She sighs and lowers her hand from his face, bracing his shoulders, and says, “I know, baby.”

“Am I still grounded?”

May grabs her keys. “Oh, big time,” she says. “You still ran off to space and Norway without my permission.”

Peter figures that’s fair. “Sorry, again.”

“Love you, kiddo.” May replies, and after a brief kiss to his head, she’s gone.

=

Three days after Peter coming back from Norway, Stephen Strange appears at his door.

“Uh,” says Peter, as the wizard strides into his apartment. “Hello? What are you doing here?”

“Stark called me,” he answers, as his cape hangs itself up next to Peter’s Midtown hoodie.

“Mr. Stark called you?”

“Do you still have my pager? I’d like it back, please.”

Peter fishes it out of the bag propped up next to the couch. “What’d he tell you?”

Dr. Strange pockets it and straightens out the gloves on his hands. “That you did exactly what I was hoping you’d do. He didn’t phrase it like that, however; he used several more curse words and was very angry about it, but the message came across all the same. But it seemed like he didn’t know all the details.”

“Well, yeah,” says Peter. He rubs the back of his neck. “He didn’t really give me a chance to explain anything at all.”

The wizard sits on his couch. There’s a wizard sitting on Peter’s couch. Sometimes he wonders exactly when this became part of his normal life. “So explain it to me. Where are the other Infinity Stones?”

“Three of ‘em are on Earth.” Peter says, sitting across from him. “Yours, and the space stone, and the mind stone. Then, uh, Quill said the power stone is on a planet called Xandar. Thor said the reality stone is on Knowhere. And they said nobody knows where the soul stone is. So that’s all six stones.”

“Nobody knows where the soul stone is?” Strange echoes.

Peter shrugs. “That’s what Gamora said.”

“And are the other two stones safe in their respective locations.”

He winces. “Not really. But Thor and the Guardians are taking care of it.”

“You said the mind stone was in the head of the Vision,” Dr. Strange recalls. “And I have the time stone. Where is the space stone, if it’s on Earth?”

Peter thinks back to Wong, who nearly ruined the ship because of the trickster god on board. He hesitates. “Well,” he says carefully. “It may or may not be with Loki.”

Dr. Strange looks like he’s about to kill something. Probably Peter. “Say that again?”

“Thor said he trusts him.” Peter says quickly. “He said the god of mischief can successfully hide an Infinity Stone. If you have a problem with that, you gotta take it up with Thor, Mr. Strange. I was not about to argue with that guy. Have you  _ seen  _ his muscles? He could literally kill me with one punch, and I am  _ not  _ trying to die at the hands of the god of thunder.”

“Where is Loki now?”

“Uh, I don’t know. Norway, probably?” he suggests. “Yeah, I think Norway. He’s with the Hulk and Valkyrie, ‘cause Thor went to, uh, Nivadellier. No, Nidavellir. Yeah. To get a weapon. And the Guardians went to Knowhere to get the reality stone. And I think they were gonna warn the Nova Corps. That’s who has the stone on Xandar. They’re, like, the government, I guess.”

“I hate Norway,” says Strange, half to himself. “That’s why I sent Wong in the first place.”

Peter frowns. “Are you going to Norway?”

“You can’t expect me to leave one of the Infinity Stones in the hands of Loki.” Dr. Strange stands up; immediately, his cape wraps itself around him. “Are you coming?”

“Me?” Peter nearly chokes on his own spit.

The wizard blinks. “Do you see anyone else in the room? Yes, you.”

“Uh—no, I can’t.”

“Why not?”

“I’m…grounded.”

“And this is why I don’t work with children.” Dr. Strange mutters. Louder, he says, “Thank you, Mr. Parker. I’ll be in touch soon.”

“Okay.” Peter says, a little miffed. “Don’t, uh, kill anyone.”

Dr. Strange’s cloak swishes as he opens the door. “The time stone can reverse any of that.”

Peter blinks. “Say sike right now,” he says, but the wizard is already exiting his apartment. “Mr. Strange, say sike right now.”

=

Peter doesn’t hear anything from the wizard or Mr. Stark for a few days after that. Instead, he focuses on school, because he’s got a bit of work to catch up on. May gets him a fake doctor’s note excusing his absences, because  _ I’m secretly an Avenger who went into space and then to Norway and then got chewed out by Iron Man  _ isn’t exactly something he can tell Mr. Harrington.

To be honest, he’s mostly relieved. Hopefully, Dr. Strange’s silence means he was successful in his trip to Norway. Maybe, Mr. Stark’s silence means he’s thinking things over and is ready to reach out to Peter himself. Peter’s text history with the billionaire has been stale since before Norway, but he’s still got the Spider-Man suit, so that’s something. Of course, he hasn’t taken it out of his bag since Norway, but that’s beside the point. Even with the pager back in Dr. Strange’s hands, Peter has that communicator from Rocket, but it hasn’t so much as vibrated with an alert. He doesn’t know if that’s good or bad.

To take his mind off of it, he spends Friday night at Ned’s and helps him build his LEGO Millenium Falcon. It takes them five hours, but by the end of it, Peter’s brain is so tired that he falls right asleep. 

That, as it turns out, is the last night of peace that he gets.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> also sorry for ending a super short chapter on a cliffhanger... BUT in case you noticed, the next chapter is the last chapter! and this is not the last fic planned in the series. so hold on tight, folks. :)


	5. don't give yourself away

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “It’s Thanos.” Gamora breathes. Her tone makes Peter’s heart fall all the way to his stomach. “We were on our way to Xandar to warn the Nova Corps and we overheard a distress signal. From the Nova Corps. So we made the jumps, and—”
> 
> “Gone.” Quill interrupts. “Thanos and his army blew up the entire planet.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay hi SUUUUPER LONG chapter here. i realized i should have split it into 2 parts but i DIDN'T so you're getting this instead. 
> 
> a couple things to note, because i don't know if i've ever mentioned them before: my AU kind of curves off near the end of civil war. YES, there was still germany and the accords and all that, but steve & his team aren't war criminals. while my other series (the petermj one) ISN'T in the same timeline as this, the relationships between some of the characters are the same. if you have any other questions let me know, but again, this is an AU, so i pretty much changed whatever i want hehe

Peter blinks awake to Ned’s hand shaking his shoulder. “Dude,” says Ned, clearly half-awake based on the way his hand keeps slapping Peter’s face accidentally. “Dude, shut off your phone.”

“S’not my phone,” Peter grumbles. “Your phone.”

“My ringtone is that Baby Yoda song, man.”

“Well, mine’s Cantina Band.”

“Then whose phone is going off?”

“Not mine,” says Peter, rolling over and throwing the blanket over his ears. Whatever is going off is a sharp ringing noise that sounds vaguely familiar, followed by two short beeps. Funny, it almost sounds like—

Oh, shit.

“Oh,  _ shit!”  _ Peter sits straight up. Ned startles, sitting up shortly as Peter fishes through his bag. “Where is it, shit, where  _ is it—” _

“What are you looking for?” Ned asks, eyes barely open.

“My communicator.” Peter closes his hand around it and yanks it out of his bag. “The one Rocket gave me.”

As soon as he says the name, Peter Quill’s face pops up in a little hologram. “Parker!” he says, looking mildly annoyed. “Finally! I’ve been ringing you for an hour!”

“It’s been five minutes, Peter,” says Gamora’s voice from off-hologram. “Hi, Peter.”

“Quill.” Peter greets. “Hey, Gamora. What’s going on?”

“We got problems, kid.” Quill answers. 

Peter’s heart starts to sink. “Did you get the stone from Knowhere?”

“Safe and secure.”

“Okay, so I don’t—”

“It’s Thanos.” Gamora breathes. Her tone makes Peter’s heart fall all the way to his stomach. “We were on our way to Xandar to warn the Nova Corps and we overheard a distress signal. From the Nova Corps. So we made the jumps, and—”

“Gone.” Quill interrupts. “Thanos and his army blew up the entire planet.”

“Oh, my God.” Peter inhales. 

“He’s got the power stone.” Quill continues. “Probably on his way to Earth, unless he thinks the reality stone’s still on Knowhere. Anyway, Mantis tried to call Thor and couldn’t get through. So we’re heading back to you, with the stone.”

Peter’s already reaching for his actual phone. “You couldn’t reach Thor?”

“No.” Gamora sighs. Her face comes into view, having taken the communicator from Quill. “And he’s got Rocket and Groot with him. Hopefully they’re just on the planet and away from the transmitter. Do you have any way to contact Bruce Banner, Peter?”

“Uh, yeah, I’ve got his phone number.” Peter answers, unlocking his phone. “But Mr. Strange might be in Norway, so they’ve got another stone there.”

“The wizard?” Quill calls from off-hologram.

“Yeah,” says Peter. “The wizard.”

“Okay.” Gamora sighs. “We’re coming to New York, Peter. We shouldn’t risk bringing a third stone to Norway. I’ll call you again when we get closer, okay? We can meet you in the park, when we first picked you up.”

Peter sighs. “Wait,” he says. “No, don’t meet there. Let me give you new coordinates, okay?”

She searches his face for a moment. “Okay,” she says again. “Be safe, Peter.”

“You too, Gamora.” Peter answers. Then her face is gone, and he lowers the communicator from eye-view. 

“Holy shit.” Ned says from behind him.

“Yeah.” Peter feels like he’s about to throw up. He looks down at his phone, open on Dr. Banner’s contact information. “You heard all that?”

“Uh, duh.” Ned answers. “Where are you gonna send the Guardians to land?”

Peter exhales. “The facility,” he says, turning to look back at his best friend. “I’m gonna call Tony.” 

“It hasn’t been a week,” says Ned, frowning at him. “Do you think he’s going to answer?”

“I don’t know,” he admits, looking back at his phone. “But this is important. This is…”  _ Happening,  _ Peter thinks, because he can’t quite say it. An entire planet, gone. One of the stones in the power of Thanos. The very thing they were trying to prevent. “I gotta go.”

“Okay, yeah.” Ned agrees. “For sure, dude. Be safe. Seriously.”

“I will.” Peter stands up, throwing his backpack over his shoulder. With a sick feeling in his stomach, he realizes this may be the last time he sees his best friend for a while. And even though he saw MJ yesterday, it feels like a lot longer. “I will, dude. I’ll text you, if I can.”

Ned opens the window for him without saying anything else and Peter slides through it, using the fire escape to scale the building. Once he hits the ground, he’s already got the little spider in his hand, slapping it onto his chest as he crouches behind a trash bin, keeping his backpack in one hand. “Karen,” Peter breathes, the moment the mask covers his face. “Call Tony.”

_ “Sure thing, Peter,”  _ answers the AI in her sweet voice. Peter puts his arms through the straps of his bag and fires a web, jumping into the air as it catches the corner of the building. Tony’s contact photo pops into Peter’s vision as he swings, heading in the general direction of the highway. He can hop on top of a truck from there, he supposes, and make it closer to the facility.

An X appears over Tony’s face.  _ “Call failed,”  _ says Karen.

“Okay.” Peter exhales. “Um, can you try again?”

The AI does exactly that. Another X appears over his mentor’s face as Peter lands on top of a semi-truck heading north.  _ “Sorry, Peter. Still no answer.” _

He should have expected that, right? Ned was right; it hasn’t been a week. “Is there any way you can tell him that it’s an emergency, please?” Peter asks, leaning low against the roof of the back of the truck. “It’s really, really important.”

_ “I can send him a text from your phone,”  _ Karen offers. 

“Sure.” Peter swallows. “Um, and do me another favor, Karen?”

_ “What can I do for you, Peter?” _

“Call Steve Rogers.”

=

Let it be known that the first time Peter calls Captain America, he’s  _ not  _ sent to voicemail.

Of course, that’s because Peter doesn’t really bother Steve unless it’s important. Or he needs a source for a history paper. Which he’s done a couple times—because, hey, desperate times call for desperate measures, right? But never has Peter actually called him. Until today. And lucky, the super soldier has the decency to actually answer him.

“Peter?” Steve asks, three rings into the phone call. Peter can hear the slight worry in his voice already. “Look, we gotta talk about your history papers—”

“No, Mr. Rogers, I’m not calling about that.” Peter says, watching the exit signs from the top of the semi. “I’m actually calling about something important.”

Steve is silent for a minute. Then, he says, “I’m not talking to you until you call me Steve.”

“That’s not  _ fair.” _

“You know what else isn’t fair? You making me feel old.”

Peter groans. “Listen,” he says. “This is serious. LIke, Avengers-level serious.”

“Did you try Tony?”

Another groan. “Yeah,” says Peter slowly, rubbing the back of his neck. “Um, I did, and he ignored my call. It’s a long story.”

The super soldier sighs. “I’m all ears, kid,” he says. “What’s going on?”

=

At the end of the call, Steve promises to convince his team to make their way to the compound. Peter knows Vision is already there, which means Wanda most likely is too, so that leaves whoever else Steve fought with in Germany before everything got settled. The call ends about five minutes before Peter slings his way in the view of the Avengers Facility, and about seven minutes before Falcon lands on the steps before the front door, inches from Peter.

“That was fast.” Peter says, as the jets power off on Sam’s wings. “Were you, like, in the area, or…?”

“I  _ was  _ racing Vision.” Sam says, pulling his goggles off of his head. A sour look shadows his face. “But the bastard won two minutes ago. I just got Steve’s call as I was about to land.”

“You really thought you could outfly Vision?”

“You really thought you could fly to space without telling your guardian and get away with it?” he fires back.

_ Ouch.  _ Peter grimaces. “Who else knows?”

“Vision, Wanda, me. Rhodey, Pepper, and Happy, obviously.” Sam ticks off his fingers. “Steve, now. So by extension, Nat, and then Clint—”

“Okay, I get it.” Peter holds up a hand. “Everyone. Is it really that bad, though?”

Sam shrugs. “All of us would do the same thing, kid,” he says, putting a hand on Peter’s shoulder. “But we’re all adults.”

“I’m an adult.” Peter protests.

“Almost.” Sam corrects. “Also, not quite an Avenger yet, because you turned it down. You started doing this way before any of us did. Not to mention the fact that Tony sees you as his own kid, so he’s a little more protective about everything.”

That doesn’t make Peter feel any better. “I can handle myself.”

Sam’s expression softens. He pats Peter’s shoulder and then lowers his hand, heading for the door. “I never said you couldn’t, Pete,” he says, pulling the door open and holding it there with his boot. “And I don’t think Tony has never said you couldn’t, either.”

Peter follows him into the facility. What he doesn’t notice, as Sam follows him in, is that the veteran makes a beeline for the guest quarters on the other side of the facility, while Peter makes his way toward the main training area, further down the hallway. He doesn’t really think much about it, when he can’t hear Sam’s footsteps anymore, but he realizes why when he pulls the door open to the training room and sees the only person inside.

“Mr. Stark,” says Peter, heart sinking. “Sorry, I’ll just—”

But Tony is staring at him, no emotion in his expression. “I think it’s time we had a talk, kid. Come on.”

Descending the small amount of steps feels like it takes an eternity. But then Peter is only feet away from Tony, rubbing the back of his neck as he approaches his mentor. “Talk,” echoes Peter. “Right. Okay. About what?”

“You’ve been doing a lot of stuff behind my back.” Tony points out. “Talking to the wizard, going to space, going to Norway. Were you ever gonna tell me about it all?”

“Of course!” Peter says immediately, pushing his hands into his pockets. “I was, I just—”

“What part of it all made you think you shouldn’t tell me about it?”

“I don’t know.” Peter says quietly. 

Tony leads them over to the only bench in the large room. He sits, stares at Peter for a long moment, and then gestures to the empty space beside him. “Then figure it out,” he says. “Start at the beginning.”

=

So Peter does.

“When we went to meet Mr. Strange, and you disappeared in that...portal thing, I went straight there,” he explains. He finds it hard to meet Tony’s eyes, so instead Peter focuses on the floor, eyes roaming over the minimal texture design in the tiles. “He told me he wanted to talk to me, because you would listen to me. And he said you wouldn’t like him. So… he told me about the Infinity Stones. What they do, what they’re called. He said that there was somebody after the stones, and it was only a matter of time before they would all be collected.”

“The wizard has one of them, doesn’t he?” Tony asks, but he speaks gently. “That’s what’s in that eye necklace. And Vision’s got one in his head. I think we’d know if someone was coming for them.”

“He said it’d been peaceful for too long.”

Tony snorts. “For him, maybe.”

“And he said you needed to see him as an ally.” Peter continues. “He said he needed me on his side to make sure you saw him that way. And that’s when you came back.”

_ There are a lot of things I see in you that you cannot see in yourself,  _ says Strange’s voice in Peter’s mind. 

“And you lied to me about that.” Tony finishes. “Wanna tell me why?”

The teenager shakes his head. “I wanted to find out more,” he admits. “I thought that if I told you, you’d try and find them by yourself.”

“The stones?”

“The Guardians,” Peter clarifies. “Of the Galaxy. Right before we left, he gave me a pager and said I would reach someone by the name of Star-Lord with it. They—they were in possession of a stone, a while back, and Mr. Strange said they could help. And he’d given me this responsibility, and I wanted to do it myself.”

“Yeah, but you can’t do things like that on your own.” Tony answers. “You’re just a kid.”

“Not anymore.” Peter looks up at him. The look in Tony’s eyes makes his heart sink further. “I’m not just a kid, Mr. Stark. I—I can handle myself out there! This entire trip has proven that. I get that you want to look out for me, but I’m not your kid—”

“You don’t think I know that?” the billionaire fires back. Peter’s mouth snaps shut. “Jesus, Pete, I know you’re not my kid. That doesn’t mean I don’t worry about you. You’re the closest thing I  _ have  _ to a kid and I feel like you’re my responsibility.”

“Why?” Peter’s eyebrows furrow. “I was Spider-Man before you found me.”

“Yeah, but would you be this involved with all of this shit if I hadn’t brought you to Germany?” Tony raises an eyebrow. At Peter’s silence, he continues. “I’ve known about the Infinity Stones since before I met you. We’ve been dealing with those stones since the Battle of New York. They’re no secret. I know the threat they pose. I’ve seen it.”

“Not all of them together—”

_ “Yes,  _ all of them together.” Tony looks away. “I didn’t realize it then, but I do now. Before Wanda was on our team, she put a nightmare in my head. A visual of what was to come. I saw my entire team in a pile of bodies, dead. I was the only one alive. I could have saved them. But somehow, I failed my entire team.”

Peter’s gut twists. “Mr. Stark—”

“And now you’re at the top of that pile. It’s not just a vision put in my head. You don’t think I have trauma that keeps me up at night, kid?”

“I never said that.”

“I’m a little protective because I know your past, and I know what the future can bring.” Tony runs a hand over his face and sighs through his fingers. “First of all, May would kill me if I let  _ anything  _ happen to you. Second of all, if these stones are really going to pretty much destroy the universe, and you’re at the center of that… I don’t know what I would do if we lost you. If I lost you.”

Peter opens his mouth to respond, but he falters. What can he say to that? Tony’s expression is half-hidden behind his hand. They sit there in silence for a minute, and the only thing echoing in Peter’s mind is  _ if you die, that’s on me.  _

Then, Tony says, “What the hell is that?”

Peter follows his gaze. There’s a very familiar ship landing on the fresh-cut grass just outside of the training area. The orange paint glints in the sunlight as it lands, the jets firing off as the ship opens, connecting the ramp with the ground.

“The Guardians.” Peter breathes. He stands up from the bench and is at the door in the blink of an eye, throwing it open to step outside. The first person to start exiting is Gamora, the green-skinned alien smiling slightly when she sees him. “Still no word from Thor?” he asks, the minute Gamora reaches the grass. 

“Nothing.” Gamora sighs, shaking her head. Behind her comes Quill, followed by Drax and Mantis. “We tried calling two more times. We have no idea if they reached Nidavellir at all.”

“Thor?” Tony repeats from behind Peter.

“You got somewhere we can put this?” Quill asks, holding up a grey sphere cautiously. Peter doesn’t have to ask to know that’s the stone from Knowhere. “Very precious cargo. We gotta hide it somewhere.”

“Um, yeah.” Tony blinks. “Yeah, follow me.”

“Thanks.” Quill reaches forward to clap Peter’s shoulder. “How ya doin’, kid?”

“Could be better,” says Peter, and he means it. 

“Did you call Banner?”

“I did,” he nods. “I don’t know when he’ll get here, though—”

Drax is the one who interrupts, pointing a blue finger to the sky just before the group heads back into the facility. “There!”

A bright, circular ship settles down from the clouds. Painted much like the Benatar, its landing is a little rocky as it settles beside the other spaceship. Through the window, Peter can see Bruce at the controls, Strange in the other seat. But when they exit the ship, they’re accompanied by one other person. 

“Hey, what the hell is this?” Tony calls over, when the wizard and Bruce leave the ship with Loki behind them, dressed in green and gold armor. “This facility has a no-bastard policy, so the Asgardian’s gotta go.”

“You might want to rethink that,” says Loki, unfazed. 

“He’s got the space stone.” Bruce explains, when Tony’s about to say something. “The Tesseract. He’s the only person who knows where he hid it.”

“So you brought both stones here.” Gamora says flatly, with a pointed glare at Strange. “The whole reason we came to New York was to keep them separated.”

Dr. Strange all-but rolls his eyes. “Nobody can open this but me,” he says, gesturing to the eye necklace. “And the Tesseract isn’t on this realm. Loki’s magic can summon it here, but its presence isn’t near us.”

“Where’s Thor?” Bruce asks, looking confused as he swept his gaze around the group. “Shouldn’t he be back too?”

Gamora’s glare turns to Peter. “You told me you called him.”

“I didn’t have time to tell him everything!” Peter says defensively, holding his hands up. “I was a little busy.”

“Tell me what?” Bruce’s eyes widen. 

“At least I’m not the only one left in the dark,” says Tony dryly, putting his hand on Bruce’s shoulder. “Let’s head inside. I’ve got some more tech in the conference room I wanna show you, Bruce. And we’ve got more company on the way soon.”

“It’s nice to see you again, Mantis,” Peter offers, as the wide-eyed woman approaches him.

Mantis reaches out to touch his arm. Peter lets her watching as her antennae glow and move, like they’re being pulled toward him. This time, no tears well up in her eyes, but she regards him carefully. “We will be okay, Peter Parker,” she says, with a gentle squeeze on his arm. The sad smile she gives him is almost haunting, and he’s not really sure that’s a better outcome.

=

Wanda and Vision are the next to arrive, both touching down near the spaceships on the grass. A third ship, a quinjet, lands with Steve and Natasha, with Sam meeting them outside to bring them into the conference room. James Rhodes arrives in the Iron Patriot suit and leaves it in the training room. Peter thinks this is the coolest room he’s ever stood in, and if it weren’t for the threat that they all might die soon, he’d probably faint from feeling so cool.

Gamora pulls a small device from her belt and presses the button on the side. It displays old space footage from some planet, and all it shows are aliens in golden armor and death and destruction. There’s no sound, but Peter can almost hear the screams anyway. It captures the attention of everyone in the room, some sitting in chairs, others hovering in corners.

“Tell me his name again,” says Tony, eyes roaming over the hologram.

“Thanos,” says Quill, as Gamora is unable to tear her eyes off of the galactic footage of the large Titan and his army. “He invades planets and takes what he wants. He wiped out an entire planet just to get one Infinity Stone.”

“The attack on New York,” Loki interjects. “My attack. Thanos sent me.”

“This is it,” Tony mutters, so quiet that Peter feels like the only one to hear him. “What’s our timeline?”

“There’s no telling.” Strange shakes his head. “All he has is the power stone.”

“Time stone’s there,” Tony recounts, pointing at the eye necklace. He jerks his head toward Vision. “Mind stone’s there. The War Criminal over there has the space stone hidden somewhere. Reality stone’s in the vault. And the soul stone is…?”

“No one knows.” Quill offers, when Tony looks at him. “No one’s seen it or heard of it. So Thanos can’t get it.”

“So which one is he heading for next?”

“We need to split up.” Gamora instructs. “Scatter the stones. Having more than one in the same location is dangerous enough. Thanos is unpredictable. Who knows what his next plan is?”

“We work better together as a team.” Tony shakes his head. “Sticking together increases our chance of survival.”

“Pretty sure she knows more about Thanos than you do, Stark.” Quill puts his hands on his hips. “Splitting up is a good idea.”

“You guys are not in charge.” Tony stares between them. “You’re on our land, on our planet. How do we know you’re not secretly working for Thanos? How do we know  _ he’s  _ not?” he points straight at Loki.

Bruce sighs. “Tony, we’ve been over this—”

“Forgive me if I’m not trusting.” the billionaire makes eye contact with Strange. “Tell me I’m not crazy.”

Dr. Strange is silent for a moment. Carefully, he says, “You need to take your emotions out of the equation, Stark. Everyone here is a vital part of this war.”

Tony snorts. “Bullshit.”

“Tony.” Natasha warns. 

“No, don’t  _ ‘Tony’  _ me.” he holds up a hand. “I’m being practical—”

“How did I know he’d be a pain in the ass to work with?” Quill says aloud, turning to Gamora. “This is ridiculous. This is never going to work. We can do this without you, Stark.”

“Excuse me?” Tony looks incredulous. “I’m sorry, you don’t get to tell me—”

Peter watches as half the group breaks out in an argument. Tony goes from snapping at Quill to Loki, throwing his hands up in exasperation. Wanda and Vision speak to only each other, voices hushed and eyebrows furrowed. Bruce is trying to calm Tony down while Gamora tries to do the same to Quill, just as Natasha and Sam start firing words back and forth at each other.

Strange, oddly, is the only other person not speaking. He regards Peter carefully, eyes meeting his like he’s trying to tell him something. 

_ We need you in this fight,  _ says Strange’s voice in his head. Peter’s eyes widen as the wizard’s words come back to him, and almost imperceptibly, as a response, the former doctor nods.

“Thanos has the biggest army in the universe.” Peter blurts, raising his voice to silence the bickering group. Everyone stares at him. “He won’t stop ‘til he gets all the stones. Xandar was his first target. We can’t be fighting while he makes his plan for the next one. Because his next target could literally be in this room.”

“You mean this,” says Vision softly, reaching up with his finger to touch the stone embedded in his head. “This could be next.”

“Then we have to protect it.” Rhodey cuts in, crossing his arms.

“No.” Vision’s eyes fall on her. “We have to destroy it.”

“We destroy that stone, it destroys you.” Wanda says from the other side of the room. The expression in her eyes makes Peter’s heart crack, just a little bit. “That is not an option, Vis.”

“Eliminating the stone is the only way to ensure that Thanos cannot get it,” he locks eyes with her across the room. “Your powers come from one of its counterparts. You could destroy the stone. Gamora said it herself—his army outshines ours over a thousand times. My life cannot be what stands in the way of defeating him.”

Steve, who has been oddly silent the entire time, looks up. “We don’t trade lives, Vision.” 

“That’s ironic,” says Tony, “coming from the man who laid down his life to save millions of people.”

“Are you saying—” Wanda begins, eyes narrowing.

“No.” Tony retorts. He crosses his arms. “Oddly enough, I agree with Cap. But the thing is—Vision has a choice.”

Bruce blinks. “He’s right,” he says, looking at Vision. Everyone’s got their eyes on the android now. “Your mind is made up of a complex construct of overlays. Ultron, Tony, me, J.A.R.V.I.S., the stone. If we can find a way to take the stone out, you’re still you. Just without the powers.”

“So let’s do it.” Wanda pleads, looking between her boyfriend and the scientist. “Can you do it?”

His face falls. “Not me,” he admits, and the Sokovian’s shoulders fall. “Not here. Even if I really knew how to do it, we don’t have technology advanced enough. Maybe Cho’s lab in Seoul, but I don’t know anywhere for certain.”

“I do.” 

Eyes move from Vision to Steve. He looks at Sam, who shrugs slightly, and then looks right over at Tony. “Wakanda.”

“Wakanda?” Tony’s face screws up in confusion. “It’s a third world country.”

“Tell that to T’Challa’s bulletproof catsuit.” Steve retorts. “You think that came out of a third world country? You get me a jet, I’ll put in the coordinates. They can do it. Give me a team.”

Peter takes a moment before he realizes that Tony’s eyes are on him. Like most times, he can’t tell what the billionaire is thinking. He never can. “Okay.” Tony says finally. “I’ll give you a team.”

“We need to go back and try to find Thor.” Quill tells the billionaire. “At best, it’s just a bum transmitter on the pod. But if it’s not… we’ve gotta get him.”

“Your ship goes back to space, then.” Tony spreads his hands on the table. “We’ll set up a comm system before you head out. Cap, you’re gonna need a good amount of people just in case something happens with Thanos out there.”

“Exactly what I was thinking.” Steve answers. “Nat, Sam, Bruce, Wanda, and Vision.”

“Take Rhodey, too.” Tony says, looking at his best friend. “That should be enough.”

“I’d like to find my brother, if that’s at all possible.” Loki says, looking right at Quill. “I have magic. I can help. Very few people can locate Nidavellir. Fortunately, I am one of those people.”

“Fine by me.” Quill says, sharing a look with Gamora.

“I’ll see if I can get ahold of Clint or Lang.” Tony says, reaching for one of the tablets set up on the table. “If either of them want in on this fight, we can use all the help we can get. Strange, what are you thinking?”

“If Thanos has the biggest army, we’re going to have to try and get as many fighters as possible.” Strange answers. “I’ve got friends at other sanctums.”

“More wizards.” Tony agrees. “Sounds good to me.” 

“So that splits us into two groups.” Steve says, crossing his arms. “And that leaves Tony and Peter doing—what, exactly?”

“I think someone should stay in New York and monitor everything going on around here.” Tony explains. “Not that I necessarily want to be that guy, but with the tech I’ve got here, I can get F.R.I.D.A.Y. to track everything and anything.”

“Tony Stark staying out of the action.” Wanda muses, regarding him with a strange expression. “That’s a new one.”

“Right.” Quill looks from the billionaire to Peter, who feels like he’s probably going to get benched again. “Well, Parker, you can come with us—”

“No.” Tony says firmly.

“Mr. Stark,” Peter complains.

Quill’s eyebrows shoot up. “No?” he repeats.

“Kid’s staying here, with me.” Tony confirms, looking back at Peter. “I’m sure you’ve got homework assignments to work on. Protect the little guys. You’ve done enough already.”

Suddenly Peter feels extremely scrutinized. He doesn’t like the pity he can see in Wanda’s eyes, or the fire he can see in Quill’s. “The kid’s smart,” he argues, gesturing toward Peter. “If you were smart, you’d let him go somewhere and be on defense.”

“I  _ am  _ smart.” Tony rolls his eyes. “And there’s already enough people leaving New York. Pete and I stay here. One person per team.”

Quill opens his mouth to argue again, but Peter remembers Tony’s words when they were sitting on the bench in the training room.  _ I don’t know what I would do if I lost you,  _ he’d said. 

“It’s fine, Quill,” says Peter, swallowing down any argument he was going to make. “It’s a good idea. I’ll stay with Mr. Stark and be your eyes and ears here.”

“If you’re sure.” Quill says warily.

Peter nods. Tony’s shoulders relax, just a little. “I’m sure.”

“Okay.” Steve speaks up, back in command mode. “Let’s suit up and head out. Tony, can you get comms ready?”

“What do I look like, an ameteur?” Tony snorts. “They’re already up, Cap. You wound me.”

If Steve’s amused, he’s trying very hard not to show it. “We’ll link up when we land in Wakanda, then.”

“We’ll patch through at Nidavellir.” Gamora promises. “As soon as we can, given there’s no fight waiting for us when we get there.”

“I’ll find you when I’m done.” Strange says simply, to which Tony rolls his eyes only slightly. “You’ll be here?”

“We’ll be here.” Tony promises. “Good luck, everyone.” He forces a smile when Rhodey pats his shoulder and worries the tablet in his hands. One by one, everyone starts to clear out, leaving Tony and Peter in the conference room by themselves.

“So,” Peter says quietly, as the footage of Thanos destroying civilizations still plays on the hologram. “We’re just...watching the news?”

Tony looks around. “Not quite,” he says. He turns off the hologram and instead pulls up a different screen, which Peter recognizes as a photograph of an old S.H.I.E.L.D. file. “There’s something else we’re gonna do.”

“Which is what?”

“The Maximoff twins aren’t the only people who got powers from an Infinity Stone.” Tony explains, touching the screen to swipe through photos. “They’re just the only two everyone knows about.”

“You know about someone else?” Peter frowns as he makes his way around the table, stopping at Tony’s side to read the screen.

“I don’t.” Tony says innocently. “These files do. I just gotta find the right one.”

=

She doesn’t notice the beeping at first.

Give her a break; she’s had the device almost thirty years and never once has it gone off. So when it starts faintly making noise, shoved in one of the compartments in the back of the ship, it takes her a while to notice it.

There’s only one person with the information for the pager. Only one person who knows how to contact her when it’s an absolute emergency.

“Son of a bitch,” she breathes, and after getting back in the pilot’s seat, she punches in the coordinates for Earth.

_ The Avengers will return. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so anyway there are a LOT of important things coming up in the storyline. hopefully i can get the next thing up soon - i haven't decided if it's going to be one chapter or multiple chapters, but i recommend subbing to the series to get an alert when it's up!
> 
> i DO already have a few things planned, like i said. um, people are gonna die. just a heads up. lol


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